Vintage at Full Speed – IMSA GTP at The Rolex Motorsports Reunion

Every kid dreams of someday racing the cars they watch on television. Skylar Robinson is doing it!

20-year-old Georgia native Skylar Robinson grew up watching GTP endurance racing. Attending the 24 Hours at Daytona was an annual family tradition. His dad, Chip, along with drivers Al Holbert, Derek Bell, and Al Unser, Jr., won the Daytona24 in 1987. They co-piloted the legendary Lowenbrau Porsche 962. Almost 30 years later, Skylar is now piloting the Dyson Racing RC Cola Porsche 962.

Robinson started racing at 12 years old, running karts at Barnesville. Barnesville has a grass-roots, local feel, but has also hosted many big name drivers including Scott Goodyear and Mark Dismore. Very early on, Robinson had a lot of success. He won 3 karting national championships, and found his way into the Skip Barber Racing Series at the age of 16. In 2013, during his high school senior year, Robinson moved to England to compete in Formula Ford. Add in a 2014 F2000 Championship, then IMSA prototypes and a 2nd place finish in F1600 in 2015.

Today, Robinson wheels the #2 car for Momentum Motorsports in the F4 US Championship Series. I asked him about the differences between his F4 and this GTP 962. “They’re completely different kinds of cars, and different kinds of driving. The F4 is actually a little underpowered, so you focus on carrying speed through the corners and maintaining momentum. This 962 is bigger, heavier, and much more of a dragster. It has 750 horsepower! You’re also dealing with 1980’s technology. The 962 has a synchro box and clutch pedal, while the F4 has paddle shifters. You have to think a lot more about how you go into and out of corners. You have to think about heel-toe action.”

As I watched Robinson speed around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and its legendary Corkscrew turn 8/8a, there was an incredible mixture of finesse and raw power. As he exited corners, the Porsche flat-6 growled to life and the twin turbos spooled to life. Down the front straight, the speed trap clocked him at nearly 140mph. Switching his feet from acceleration to braking, the turbo wastegate sounded its song too-too-too-too-too! Robinson would round the corner, and the beautiful song would repeat.

As he works on his marketing degree in college, Robinson has his racing sights focused on sports car competition and endurance races. He says he enjoys the the sounds, the distinctive note of each individual sports car. He has a goal of someday competing in the 24 Hours at Daytona that he saw so many times in his youth.

I learned to use the camera at a race track because I was a gear head first. I thrive on the ability to tell a story, to stoke emotions and more than anything, to focus on the human condition in all parts of life.